From Your Councilor - Greg Milne - Precinct 13

Growing up just a short walk from the John F. Kennedy Memorial on Ocean Street instilled my deep appreciation for and curiosity about President Kennedy's legacy.

Greg Milne

Growing up just a short walk from the John F. Kennedy Memorial on Ocean Street instilled my deep appreciation for and curiosity about President Kennedy's legacy. I'm sure we all have particular interests which derive from the unique history of the place we each began our earliest explorations. Obviously, we all start at home with our families but soon when we're old enough to venture beyond the front yard and street we live on, the neighborhood becomes our universe for the most impressionable years.

Although I'd like to claim I'm young enough to have been influenced by technology and the Internet, I wasn't, since these large influences of today weren't around when I was a kid. Instead, there were many families and children around that idyllic neighborhood by Veterans Beach in the '70s during my "Wonder Years." We used to ride our bikes for hours around the pool at the JFK Memorial, and I would read the words of President Kennedy: "I believe it is important that this country sail and not sit still in the harbor." Back then I thought how cool it must have been to be alive during that magical time we call "Camelot"...especially because it happened right in my back yard!

I feel very fortunate that during the tender time of childhood and over the past several years I have had the opportunity to know two people with passion for their home and their history. They both possess an unexplainable gift. Just like myself, these two men understood how important our "home" is, especially where we grew up, and how the history of that place can profoundly influence who we become. Unlike myself they both had this phenomenal gift (for me, maybe the "gift of gab," as they say): the gift of creating a sculpture that is not only a remarkable work of art but much more. Their work has the power to tell a story, bring us back in time and literally move our soul.

I am talking about two local sculptors: Arthur Alvin and David Lewis. Arthur Alvin passed on back in the '80s. During my "Wonder Years." he inspired me with his sculptures of President Kennedy, President Lincoln and others. He was my neighbor at about the halfway point to the Kennedy Memorial. He took the time to talk to us when we were kids about his work and his passion for history which inspired his creations. Like David Lewis he had a fascination with the Kennedy legacy which he shared with me back then.

Over the past many years, I have gotten to know David Lewis. His work has enriched our community in ways words can't describe...only that feeling in your gut can. David Lewis' contributions are timeless, eternal and remind us of our shared humanity. Imagine 100 years from now a child sees that famous picture of John F. Kennedy, Jr. saluting his father's coffin draped in the American flag on that haunting November day. The child wonders about this heart-wrenching image displayed in our world-class museum...then finds solace as he and his family sit beside the statue of our young president walking through the beach dunes down to the sea.

Later today please join David Lewis and hundreds of your friends, family and neighbors as we dedicate David's newest masterpiece. The statue of President John F. Kennedy will be dedicated during ceremonies today on the Hyannis Village Green. Starting at p.m., our own Barnstable High School Band will kick off this historic event along with the Honor Guards.

Then at 5:45 p.m. sharp there will be the dedication ceremony followed by the procession from the Village Green to the statue unveiling in front of the JFK Hyannis Museum on Main Street.

I have had the distinct privilege of working on the JFK Statue Committee over the past couple months in preparation for today's very special event. I cannot say enough in thanks to the incredible effort so many people have made on this committee for much longer than my involvement. This project began eight years ago when I was first elected. The community contribution of these fine men and women has been outstanding!

In addition to the unprecedented list of financial donors and public servants who raised the required funds, I would like to pay tribute to Committee Chairman and volunteer Town Historian Lou Cataldo for his unwavering, visionary, humble and truly compassionate dedication to this project and his countless contributions to historic preservation over the years. Lou, THANK YOU!

Have a great Memorial Day! We will see you later today on the green, and on Monday for our Memorial Day Parade on Main Street in Centerville.

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